Post by Diarist on Oct 28, 2015 23:04:03 GMT 1
It has been a relatively uneventful day for me. I attended the meetings this morning and afternoon but very little had to do with East Africa, after all, it is a separate command. I'm impressed how much has been achieved in the last couple of months. Admiral Darlan recognized me and said that something about me condescending to wear uniform this time. I reminded him that I was on vacation the last time we met. I've heard rumours that not all the French are happy with so many foreigners having so much say. Darlan is one of them. Someone ought to remind him that although the Royal Navy outnumbers the French Navy 2 to 1, the Naval commander and his deputy, Darlan, are both French.
The afternoon meeting was mainly about the naval exercise - the Italian Navy very rarely leaves port. Are their finances so bad? Even their troop transports are only escorted by only one or two destroyers. We normally have an aircraft-carrier and a couple of capital ships as escort. When there was mention of transports at Benghazi I remembered that the Italian 5th Infantry Division is also there. I brought it to their attention and was told that they had been disembarking troops not embarking. I did find out that our Parachute unit had arrived without incident in Alexandria. HMS Courageous has received the 800th and 810th Squadrons back on board and will be heading to Aden to patrol in the Horn of Africa area.
I had dinner with Guy Simonds this evening. We discussed the Neutrality Act that Roosevelt had signed. How would he treat our anti-Italy coalition? Especially since we intend hitting Italy hard. There's the presidential election next year and maybe the Italian vote is more important than another European conflict. The plans called for either Anthony Eden or Winston Churchill to go to Washington if we enter the war. We went to the hotel to drink a glass of wine and sat with my pilot and co-pilot, who weren't drinking alcohol. Apparently we shall have excellent weather tomorrow so we'll be leaving after lunch as planned. I asked them if they know Malta because it's my first time. I got a couple of good tips where to eat. I wonder if Rommel will be there. Time for some sleep.